2020 Leonardini Vyd Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2020 vintage was a long and warm growing season, seasoned by a drought, which can often lead to a fantastic vintage. Bud break began in late March, leading to a Spring that had few showers and was relatively dry.  Summer was steady, with heat spikes that pushed the vintage closer and closer. As we headed into Autumn, harvest was upon us quickly and we moved swiftly to bring in all our grapes to process and finish the season. This 2020 wine was made from hand-selected grapes from our small block of clone 8 Cabernet Sauvignon in our Leonardini Vineyard.

Upon hand harvesting in the early morning hours, our Cabernet Sauvignon was carefully destemmed and sent to tank for a whole-berry fermentation.  The grapes were cold-soaked in tank at 45˚F for 4-7 days, allowing for increased color, aroma and flavor extraction. After inoculation with a select yeast, the grape must (juice, skins and seeds) fermented at 82˚F, which allowed for a hot extraction on the skins.  For fermentation cap management, we pumped juice over the skins two times per day, wetting the cap evenly for a nice, healthy fermentation. After fermentation and pressing, the wine was sent to 80% new French oak, 20% neutral French oak barrels, aging for 26 months. The final blend for the Leonardini Vineyard is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.